Community rules

The board

A classic board is a 10 × 10 grid of 100 squares. Smaller boards — 5 × 10, 10 × 5 and 5 × 5 — suit smaller groups. One team's digits run across the top and the other team's down the side.

Boards follow the sport's usual format — quarters for football and basketball, halves for soccer, innings for baseball, periods for hockey — or a format the host sets. The host also chooses which periods decide a winner; the final period always does.

Claiming squares

• Players join with the board's code or link and claim the squares they want, up to any limit the host sets.
• A host can ask to approve claims before they count; a square waiting for approval shows as pending.
• When claiming closes, the host's setting decides what happens to unclaimed squares: the host takes them, they are dealt out evenly to the players, or they stay empty.

The numbers

Once claiming closes, SquareGames draws the digits 0–9 for each side at random — the host doesn't choose them, and they can't be changed once the game starts. Until the draw, nobody knows which scores a square will match. (A board imported from a paper sheet or another app keeps the numbers it already had.)

Scoring and winners

• The host (or a co-host) records the score as the game goes, and every player's board updates live.
• At the end of each deciding period, the winning square is where the last digit of each team's score meets. A 17–14 score, for example, wins the square at 7 and 4.
• Points in overtime count toward the final period.
• If the winning square is empty, there is no winner for that period and nothing rolls over.
• Mistakes can be undone or corrected, and a corrected result is announced to everyone. Every change is kept in the board's score log, which any player can read.

Rules for hosts

1. Be clear. Say before anyone claims how your board works — the format, the deciding periods and the claiming limit.
2. Score honestly. Record the real score promptly, and give a true reason when you correct it.
3. Keep it fair. Don't show favoritism in approving claims or try to influence a result.
4. Keep it free. Don't charge for squares, collect money, or use a board, its title or its chat to organize stakes, pools or prizes.
5. Keep it legal. Make sure your board is appropriate for your group and complies with the law where you are.

Rules for players

1. Read before you claim. Check how the board works before you take a square.
2. One person, one account. Don't use extra accounts to claim more squares or get around a limit.
3. Be a good sport. No harassment, abuse or unsportsmanlike conduct toward hosts or other players.
4. Report problems. If something on a board isn't right, report it to us.

Not allowed

• Using SquareGames for gambling of any kind, or anything illegal where you are
• Entry fees, buy-ins, stakes, pools, raffles or prizes connected with a board
• Manipulating a score, a claim or the number draw
• Fraud, scams or deceptive practices
• Harassing, threatening or abusing other users
• Harassment, threats, hate speech or sexual content, in a board, a chat, a name or a photo
• Anything that sexualises or endangers a minor (see Child safety)
• Sharing someone's private information without their consent
• Accounts for anyone under 18
• Reporting someone falsely, or fabricating evidence in a report
• Running boards for a business without a Venue plan

Breaking these rules can lead to a board being removed, or an account being suspended or closed. The full terms are in our Terms of Service.

How to report

You can report any user, game, message, review, team or venue, on the website or in the app. Reports are confidential: the person you report is never told who reported them.

• A user, game, team or venue: open its "…" menu and choose Report.
• A chat or direct message: long-press the message in the app, or hover over it on the website and open its menu, then choose Report.
• Pick the reason that fits best and add any detail that helps. You can block the person in the same step.

If anyone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. Anything involving a minor is handled under our Child safety standards and goes to the front of the queue.

How to block

• Open the person's profile, tap or click its "…" menu and choose Block.
• See and undo your blocks any time in Settings → Blocked users.
• Blocking is silent: the other person is not told. They can no longer see your profile, follow you, message you, invite you or join boards you host, and their messages in a board chat you share are hidden from you.

What happens after a report

• A moderator reviews every report within 24 hours — reports about a minor or a threat to someone's safety much sooner.
• What you reported is hidden from your own view straight away, whatever the outcome.
• Where we find a violation we remove the content and may warn, restrict, suspend or permanently ban the account responsible, without notice where safety requires.
• We tell you when your report has been reviewed, and whether we took action.

Encrypted chat and reports

Board chat and direct messages are encrypted on your device and stored only in encrypted form. We do not monitor them, and our moderators read only messages that a participant in the conversation reports. When you report chat messages, your device decrypts the ones you select (up to 10) and sends them to our moderators — nothing else from the chat is shared. See our Privacy Policy for how long we keep them.

Submitting a false report or fabricated evidence is itself a violation of these rules.

Appeals

If we took action on your account or removed something you posted, you can appeal once per decision within 30 days, using the link in the notice we send you or by emailing support@squaregames.app. Where we can, a different moderator from the one who made the decision reviews it.

Getting help

Questions about a board go to its host first. For anything else, visit the help center, contact us, or email support@squaregames.app.